


return to the scenes of these crimes

by starrydreams



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Emotional Support Animals, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, but all of my fics are jaylos fics so, carlos has 2 hands for his 2 esas, oh also the jaylos is like. implied/pining, returning to the isle, uhhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25178266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrydreams/pseuds/starrydreams
Summary: "This is Bee,” Carlos said softly, shifting so that they could have enough room to meet and sniff each other. They did so, and he pet them both. He smiled when he saw that they seemed to like each other well enough. “Bee helped me like you do back on the Isle.”
Relationships: Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83





	return to the scenes of these crimes

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this while watching critical role tonight and i wrote it all before it ended LEL
> 
> but uh yes enjoy this fic bc i forever hate the movies for not including their pets (esp bee). i still don't know how to write jay help

Carlos was pacing in his dorm, anxiety and fear bubbling up in his stomach. The only sounds filling the dorm were that of his own quick breathing and Dude’s steps as he paced in time with him. He had remembered something he forgot to bring with him to Auradon and it filled him with guilt and anger, toward himself. Dread washed over him in one, swift, giant wave as he realized he needed to go back for it.

The idea of returning to the Isle scared him more than anything in Auradon could. He had just escaped his mother, only gone a handful of months. He couldn’t go back already; he was finally adjusting to the idea that he wasn’t going to get in trouble for anything he did. If he ran into her while he was there, everything would be back to square one. (He also wasn’t sure if he would be able to explain the bruises and scratch marks to the others.)

He had to go back, though. Just the thought of what his mom could be doing right now was enough for hot, angry tears to spill down his cheeks.

Just then, Carlos heard the door open and he froze, facing the door, crying and all. His face flushed even more. He considered trying to flee through one of the windows, but he knew he couldn’t escape.

“Carlos?” Jay asked, eyebrows knit in concern. He was already crossing the gap between them to wrap his arms around him protectively. Jay was always protective of him. “What happened?”

He took a deep breath to try to explain, but couldn’t muster what it took to speak. Sometimes he got like this; Jane had said it was called being nonverbal, that it happened sometimes when someone went through something really bad and they were stressed about it. He thought that it was a grave understatement about what he was going through, but it felt better knowing that he wasn’t just… stupid. That it was an actual thing that other people went to.

He just shook his head and Jay understood. He moved to help him sit on the floor, grabbing Dude and putting him in Carlos’s lap. Carlos exhaled heavily as he started to pet Dude’s fur. Just the act of petting him calmed him down immensely. (Ben was talking about registering Dude as Carlos’s “Emotional Support Animal.” The concept was foreign to him, but Dude was definitely emotionally supportive.) Jay sat there bedside him, arm wrapped around his shoulders, grounding.

They were silent for a while, but Carlos spoke up after a moment. “I want to go get Bee.”

Jay blinked, obviously not expecting that. “Bee?”

“My cat. Remember?”

“Oh.” Jay frowned but nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, the black one that slept in your treehouse?”

Carlos nodded. Bee wandered around the isle as she pleased, but she always came back to the treehouse by the end of the day. He kept a little bowl of scraps for her, whatever he could find that day. He knew that she probably was able to find food on her own after he left, but the idea of her waiting in the treehouse for him by the bowl made him want to cry all over again. She could be starving and lonely— that was, if his mother hadn’t found her and skinned her already.

Jay hesitated, but slowly suggested, “We could… ask Ben? He could send someone to go get her.”

“No,” he chewed on his bottom lip, fidgeting with Dude’s little vest. “I need to go. She doesn’t trust anyone but me and Evie.”

“Okay. I’ll go back with you.”

His eyes widened, just a little. He didn’t even need to  _ ask  _ Jay if he could come with him. He just… wanted to. Carlos wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to people caring about him like that.

“Okay.” Carlos took a deep breath. “We’ll have to get a- a car.”

Jay grinned, mischievous and devious. “Just leave that to me.”

Jay left not too long after that, presumably going to go get a car for them to take to the Isle. Carlos stayed in their dorm and tried to study for a test he had in a couple of days, but he couldn’t focus. He kept reading the same words over and over again until he got frustrated and closed the book. Instead, he grabbed one of his work-in-progress inventions to work on and was incredibly grateful when it was able to keep him distracted.

It was just a little bit past sunset when Jay returned, jingling a pair of keys with a smug look on his face. (Carlos wasn’t sure if he wanted to know how he got access to them.) They agreed to just go by themselves and not tell anyone, Jay confident in their ability to get in and get out quickly enough. Carlos was worried that they would get caught and end up stuck there on the Isle again, but he pushed those thoughts away. He couldn’t talk himself out of going.

They snuck out when it was a little darker so they could have a little extra cover. The library wouldn’t close for another couple of hours so Carlos would just say they’re going to study for something. It wouldn’t be the perfect excuse if they were confronted driving toward the Isle, but Carlos prayed that Jay had a cover for that already lined up. He had to come up with  _ something _ to get those keys. 

They made it to the car okay and Carlos instinctively hopped into the driver’s seat. A look of shock crosses over Jay’s face momentarily but it shifted to that of a grim understanding. He tossed Carlos the keys after he jumped into the passenger seat beside him.

“Cruella made me drive her around,” Carlos explained after they lapsed into silence too long. He started the car and put it into drive.

“I figured.” Jay frowned. Carlos couldn’t decipher what that frown meant. “That’s shit. Why couldn’t she make her henchmen do it?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. I think she just saw me as, like… a servant or whatever. I was just another set of hands to help around the house.”

They fell into another silence again until Jay figured out how the radio worked. The songs sucked but some were catchy enough to lighten the mood. They tried to sing along to some of them but, since they didn’t know the words to any that played, they sort of just made up their own. The lyrics were stupid but it was fun; it was enough to ease the tension in Carlos’s shoulders.

They crossed over the magical bridge well enough, but the magical, gold, glowing light obviously stirred some people from their sleep. A couple of people awake in the night lingered by the broken bridge to see what was going on and Carlos had never been so grateful for tinted windows in his life.

They parked the car as close to Hell Hall as they could without arousing suspicion and quickly covering it to hide it from sight. If anyone found a new car here, they would either just steal it or strip it for parts while they were out. They couldn’t afford to be stranded there again.

They stuck to the shadows and tried to be as quiet as possible as they made the walk to Hell Hall. Carlos’s stomach dropped when he saw Cruella’s car in the driveway: she was home. He had hoped she was out, maybe at the spa, maybe the market or Cut and Dye, but no, of course, she had to be home right now. That made this exponentially riskier.

Jay reached out and squeezed his arm comfortingly. Carlos gave him a nervous smile in return.

Sneaking around the back of the house, he practically held his breath the entire time. They passed one of the windows that looked into the sitting room and he saw her on the couch, watching some Auradon show with her feet propped up on an ottoman. He ducked down under the window quickly to avoid being seen, hands shaking terribly. He stayed there, crouched, as he tried to give himself the willpower to stand up and keep going again.

Jay crouched down in front of him. He whispered, “C? C’mon, we’re almost there. We’ll grab Bee and take the long way back to the car.”

Carlos barely registered his words, but glancing over to the backyard and seeing his treehouse so close pulled him out of his panic. They were just a few yards away from it. Away from Bee. The quicker they got her, the quicker they could go back to their dorm and Carlos could start repressing his horrible memories again.

Jay helped Carlos back to his feet since he was a little unsteady on shaking knees. They made their way to the treehouse, careful not to step on anything that would make a noise. Thankfully they were able to make it to the base of the tree without alerting Cruella or anyone else. Carlos wasted no time climbing up the ladder, blinking tears of relief away. They made it. They would get Bee and leave-

That was where his relief ended, though. When he made it to the top of the treehouse, he saw nothing. His workbench and old TV were still there, but Bee’s bowl was empty and there was no sign of her. His blood ran cold as thoughts of his mom finding and killing her filled his mind.

Carlos twisted around to look at Jay below, nauseous. “Jay!” He whisper-shouted. “She’s not here!”

“What?”

“She’s not-”

“No, I heard you!” He cut off. Carlos’s mouth made a little ‘o’ as he made his way, clumsily, down the ladder. Sensing his stress, Jay continued, “She’s got to be around here somewhere, right? Let’s look.”

Carlos nodded and they split up to search the backyard for the black cat. They whispered her name, trying to get her attention, but not wanting Cruella to hear them.  _ She probably can’t hear us, _ Carlos thought miserably.  _ She might not even be around here. Maybe she’s trying to find some food at the market. _

He was just about to give up and suggest they look somewhere else when he heard some rustling in the bushes. Jay inched his way closer to Carlos in case it was something more dangerous than a ten-year-old cat. There was no need for it, though, because Bee came trotting out from the brush with a happy little meow. She instantly went over to Carlos and started rubbing against his legs.

“Bee!” He cried and scooped her up in his arms, holding her as close as he could.

“ _ Carlos, _ ” Jay hissed and slapped a hand over Carlos’s mouth.

Just then, the door closest to the backyard opened. Carlos froze, seeing the silhouette of his mother in the doorway. Jay froze too, breath shallow. All the two could do in the moment was pray that she couldn’t see them in the darkness as she scanned the yard. Carlos squeezed his eyes shut, terrified.

“Carlos?” Cruella called out, tone shrill. “Is that you, pup?"

He whimpered quietly, muffled behind Jay’s hand. He felt lightheaded. He felt like he could pass out right there, just unable to handle the situation anymore. The only thing keeping him from completely collapsing was Bee’s steady purr in his arms.

Cruella turned back into the house, shouting, “Jasper! Horace! Go look around outside. One of those nasty merchants might be trying to steal my furs!”

As soon as the door closed behind her, Jay and Carlos made a break for it. They took the long way around as Jay suggested earlier to avoid Cruella’s henchmen and their search of the property. They didn’t stop running until they found the car again and quickly disassembled the makeshift camouflage they piled on it. Taking it apart took much longer than it should’ve, Carlos only using one hand, clutching onto Bee with the other, but they eventually got everything off and got into the car.

Jay drove this time despite the fact he had never really driven before. Carlos didn’t care. He was too busy holding onto Bee and petting her and kissing her head. As soon as they were on the magic bridge back to Auradon, he started crying, burying his face in her fur. Jay reached over and rubbed his back the rest of the way home.

They got back to their dorm without a hitch, thankfully. Carlos collapsed onto his bed, knees giving out on him as the adrenaline flushed out of his system. Jay was similar, though he wasn’t near as worked up as Carlos was. He just leaned against the door, steadying his breathing, before flopping onto his own bed.

Silence filled the room while they calmed down until Jay broke it with, “Holy shit. That was close.”

“Yeah.” Carlos breathed, a little laugher in his tone. “I can’t believe we made it back.”

Making eye contact, the two burst into a small bout of laughter. Genuine amusement was absent from their tones, disbelief and relief filling it instead. Jay would never admit it, but Carlos knew he was scared, too, almost getting caught. Jay might’ve not been scared of Cruella or Jafar, but the idea of tourney being ripped from him…

Carlos slipped onto the floor between their beds after he calmed down, finally setting Bee on the floor for the first time since they got back. She didn’t go far, though. She rubbed against him a little forcefully; she obviously missed him just as much as he missed her. He was glad to give her all the pets she wanted.

Dude padded over to Carlos and Bee with a curious tilt of his head. Carlos reached over to scratch him behind the ear. He didn’t want Dude to think he was being replaced.

“This is Bee,” he said softly, shifting so that they could have enough room to meet and sniff each other. They did so, and he pet them both. He smiled when he saw that they seemed to like each other well enough. “Bee helped me like you do back on the Isle.”

Carlos’s gaze flickered up to Jay for a split second, catching the soft expression on his face. It made Carlos’s cheeks flush a bright red and he immediately looked back down to his pets. Bee was now cleaning Dude— a terribly cute distraction from whatever that look was on Jay’s face.

Soon enough they went about their usual nighttime activities: Jay showered, Carlos studied and did some of next week’s homework after getting some food and water for Bee. Eventually, they settled in bed, fatigued from the loss of adrenaline earlier. Though, this time, Carlos climbed into bed with two animals by his side like his own little bubble of comfort.

Kissing each one of their heads, he dozed off with a tiny smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> anyway. anyone wanna become my beta reader for descendants fics. my tumblr dms broke so hmu on magictaako on twitter
> 
> also leave kudos/comments if u like!


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